Wednesday, October 6, 2010

My BAD Professional Dye Job

Since I've been natural (almost 6 years), I've dyed my hair over a dozen times. It's been a way of life for me. Some girls like shoes, others like purses, I like hair color. Now I'm either lucky or know what I'm doing because of ALL of the dye jobs I've done, my hair has never thinned, broken off. Not once. I've always felt comfortable doing my own dye jobs and a lot of that has to do with me being in control of doing my own hair...and me being cheap. If I can save $100 by doing something myself, then dammit, I'm going to do it.

Welllllssssss, this professional dye job was the pits. I could have done a better job. I know this because I've dyed my locs several times with success. While I will not bash the girl or the salon (not publicly, at least), I will never be returning. Even though I told her what I was going for, she went another route. She did something that I abhor when it comes to my hair...

...dyed it darker. I mean, WTF!!!!! I've never liked darker hair on me. I always want to go lighter. I thought I made this clear to her. I said,

"I'd like to go lighter all over--just a notch. At the top, I'd like to have highlights of golden brown and red." Period.

So why then...when I looked in the mirror was my 3/4 of my hair DARKER than my natural hair color? Just tragic.


It was a horrible experience to say the least. She was so ungentle with my hair. I was shocked that several loc'd ladies referred me to her because she didn't seem to know how to "handle" loc'd hair. My scalp is in pain from the way she washed my hair.


So rough. I hated the products that were used. I had to go home and re-wash my hair with my own organic-y and natural smelling shampoos because that Design Essentials crap that's used on relaxed hair made me sick to my stomach.



And look at my roots...


Why are some still dark? Just awful. Granted, I kinda dig the top of the head.


It's not SO bad. Even though I only have a good FIVE red locs. And it's only on the tips. I wanted the entire loc colored....not just the tips. Why girl, why? But it's the back that really bothers me. Not that I work in corporate America, but I do have to be professional on the job and this obvious color separation in my hair just looks....unprofessional and tacky. I've always disliked the super light hair up top and darker at the bottom.




It's just bad. And some of y'all are going to say, "B...it doesn't look THAT bad." Well, I know I could rock it but that's not the point. This look is not what I wanted and I'm pissed.

It's not staying like this. I want to get rid of that dark dye ASAP. My fear is that I will have to pull (bleach) my hair to lighten it. But I don't have much of a choice because how else can you come from dark color? I'm tempted to do something tonight. I hate the idea of over-processing my locs but I refuse to walk around looking some chick who got a bad color job. Which, uh....that's what I look like right now.

It's my fault really. I should have just gone to my primary loctician. Her nonavailability/prices and my eagerness resulted in a bad bad color job. So I blame myself. That's what I get for trying to be cheap. I wasn't rude to the stylist. I just told her that I thought we agreed on something. She said that maybe we had a misunderstanding, blah blah blah....I just ran out of there with a wet head.


Oh well, we live and learn. What should I do now, darlings? Maybe I can go bankrupt and beg my loctician to do something by tonight since I'm off to a conference tomorrow. Or maybe I can just lighten it myself. Learn from me--stick with who you know.

Now excuse me while I go pout for the rest of the day.

27 comments:

kateypie35 said...

aw, ((((hugs))). I don't think it looks bad, but I totally understand how upsetting and frustrating it is when you get a do that is really a DON'T -it is so awful!
I do not know the proper care for locs, but I do know that bleach = terrible for hair, eeep! So what if you go dark all over to even it out, JUST for a few weeks, to give your hair a rest? THEN go back and add in lighter highlights? Booooooo to bad hairstylists!
Oh one other thing - you should call the owner of that salon and get your money back or a partial refund or SOMETHING. C'mon now.

B said...

I love you KT. Yeah, bleach is mega bad for any kind of hair but I have nooooo idea what to do. I kinda hate how I look with darker hair so it would be like swallowing staples to go darker. And girlfriend, you already know me, I damn sure didn't pay full price for this mess. Oh. no.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm vocal on Clumps but I'm a big time lurker on Loc Rocker, but today I must be heard! Awwww, B. I'm so sorry that you had this experience. That is ridiculous. Why in the world did that chick not listen to anything you said??? Uggh! It's doesn't look horrible, but I totally understand that it's not at all what you wanted. I agree with the post above, maybe you can just darken it all for a while and give your hair and yourself time to heal from the bad treatment. Then you can try again to get the look you were going for. I hope you didn't pay this girl the full price either. She didn't give you what you wanted, so you shouldn't have to come out of pocket for her mistake.

Natasha Vincent, Crazy about personal care! said...

B...it doesn't look THAT bad. But seriously, it doesn't. If you're doing a corporate conference type thing tomorrow then why not set it to curl overnight?

That way, an updo that hides whatever you see as flaws is going to be absolutely gorg!

Mind you, I think it looks gorg right now and that last pic really does bring out the best of the color. Thanks for sharing all those photos even though you were miserable about the ordeal, Brittany!

B said...

slackey---> I can't go darker. Noooooooooo!!!!!!

Natasha---> Thanks sis. I keeps it real on my blogs. I post about the good, bad and the ugly (i.e. my new dye job). Womp womp...

kateypie35 said...

what if you go darker, as in a deep fall burgundy - ooooo, autumn lovely! Again, TEMPORARILY. You can rock it, you know you can! I just don't want you to further damage your hair trying to lighten it. You have worked so hard to keep it healthy!
Wow, I am really concerned about your hair, I must like you!
heh heh

ReDwOoD said...

Hey B! My 7 1/2 month old babies are dyin for a dye as well. And i keep telling myself that Im goin to do it myself! after all if something goes wrong YOU can fix it or whatever. Im sorry your experience was bad. I think you should rock and updo room hide the big color change and when you get time (i would at LEAST wait a week) and bleach it (no it'd nor good but we know you, and we know your gonna do it) lol but just hide it for the time being. Don't immediately re-dye again.

B said...

I love that you're care (aka listen to my e-whines). I guess burgundy/autumn wouldn't be THAT bad. And then the color differences wouldn't be SO obvious. Hmm....that's an idea.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Maybe it's just me, but I think it looks great. Yes, you do have a few colors going on, but it looks kinda rockstarish. If you own it, you can rock it like, "this is just what I do" lol At least until you
"fix" it. I guarantee you if you rock it like you meant it, everybody who sees you will believe you. :)

Basic Woman said...

Darn! I was hoping that you were going to have a great dye experience. Just be careful not to overprocess in your eagerness to get rid of the dark dye.

Shana Janelle said...

OMG you have every right to be pissed. This is why I am so scared to get my babies dyed (almost 5 months in!). I agree with doing the burgundy color. Dont go lighter, you dont want to experience any breakage. Good luck hon!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I normally lurk here too. For now, I would suggest you go darker with something semi-permanent for now. This way the color is more consistent. In a few weeks, you could revisit going lighter.

I had a bad dye experience and that was my solution. I actually liked the color better once I rinsed it darker.

TMaryMack said...

I, too, am a dye-aholic. I've had my locs for 3 years and have dyed them more than 10 times (usually lighter in the winter and darker in the summer)... anywhoo, all I can say is, remember that it takes a while for our hair to absorb the color. So, while it may look really dark while it's wet, it will continue to get lighter as it dries, and continue to lighten for the next week or so.

And I know bleaching is bad, but I've done it several times, and the great thing about having locs so that it hasn't taken my hair out (not like it did when I processed my hair).

So, stay encouraged. Thanks for the blog. And most importantly, do what makes YOU happy.

Peace, Queen.

YBW said...

:( When I saw the word BAD on my little blog roll I damned near wept. I'm sorry B. It doesn't look terrible or even bad,but I know you and it doesn't look like my bleach loving B. I hope you get it fixed to your liking, and remember it could ALWAYS be WORSE.

NESSessary said...

I don't think it looks bad either B, but the point is that it was not what you wanted, and that's always just a terrible thing to go through when going to a salon. Hopefully the next dye job will be EXACTLY what you wanted! :)

Unknown said...

OMG B!! I am so mad for you!!!! I am glad you didn't pay her the full price...I probably wouldn't have even paid partial!!! I hope that you are able to get it taken care of though. I mean, you rock it well, but I understand when you were thinking it would look one way and it's the total opposite!!!

Anonymous said...

Ah man, B. I'm sorry the colorist sucked!!! It can be fixed, no worries there. It is definitely "rockable" but I understand it isnt what you were shooting for; therefore it sucks in your eyes! But dont bleach right now! Try to give it at least a week since your scalp is tender.
Uggghhh, the travails of us color lovers!

Unknown said...

Sorry about your unfortunate experience. I do like some of the bright red color that are on a few of them. That would be a great Autumn color. I'm impressed that you walked out. I would have sat there if it took ten hours to fix it or leave and not pay. Have you written a blog about the do's and don'ts of loc color? I need expert advice :)

Unknown said...

Can you go back and have someone there who is competent lighten the dark half of your hair with a product of your choosing for free?

Do the temporary hair dyes also contain bleach? That could be an option until you give your hair enough time to recuperate.

Anonymous said...

overall it doesn't look bad (except those roots!) but when you have a mental picture of what you want, and you get somethin' waaaay different, then yea, you'll think it looks bad.
the red ends don't look like the dye penetrated all the way though.

Glo said...

It's not that bad, but if it's not what you wanted then..yeah...it's a problem!

I'm so scared to dye my hair or to get it dyed because I always wonder if ppl really know what they are doing. Add that concern to the fact that some beauticians do what THEY want to do instead of what you pay them to do and I've avoided shops altogether. Theirry Baptiste is probably the only person I'd trust to dye my hair.

B said...

Lawd...what would I do without y'all?

Izzo said...

Aww B...I know how it feels when you pay for something and it is not delivered. With that said it doesn't look bad.

Rani (rah-nee) said...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
I'm mad for you B.
That's exactly the way I felt back in August when I did my first hair coloring ever. Had never colored my hair, but knew I wanted to go lighter with the Locs.
Taking the advice of someone else and not going with my gut feeling, I ended up picking a color that wasn't the ginger color that I wanted.
*Sigh*...
The Loc'd Woman's life is never done!
Lol

Unknown said...

Damn B. I know you wanted to go back to that salon and hit that bish with a bottle! I know. Trust me, I know. However, your hair is still gonna look good cause you will roc them locs and shake them locs no matter what they look like.

Good luck and dye your own hair next time. Cause you def do a way betta job.

And, you still the...

Just saying.

Expanding Beauty said...

What a horrible experience and you should've gotten your money back period. I wouldn't go at the bleach just yet, because that much chemical processing could lead to some serious damage on your locs and irritate your scalp. Honestly it doesn't look bad, but that's besides the point. Wait a bit at least 2 weeks and then go from there.